Three Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza during Israeli shelling
Three Palestinian journalists were killed in an Israeli shelling that targeted a vehicle in the Al-Zahra area, located in the central Gaza Strip, according to first responders. The Civil Defense agency, affiliated with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in Gaza, confirmed that the vehicle they were in was hit, identifying them as Mohamed Salah Al-Qashta, Anas Ghanima, and Abdel Raouf Shath. These journalists were reported to be working for an Egyptian humanitarian organization.
For its part, the Israeli military stated that it targeted “several individuals suspected of operating a drone linked to Hamas… in a manner that posed a threat” to its forces, adding that it is investigating the incident.
Elsewhere in the region, eight other people, including two children, were killed by Israeli artillery and snipers across the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza.
Doctors reported that three people, including a 10-year-old boy, died as a result of fire from Israeli tanks in another location in central Gaza. They also noted that a 13-year-old boy and a woman were killed by gunfire from Israeli forces in the Khan Younis area in the south, according to reports cited by Reuters.
The Israeli military stated on Wednesday morning that its forces killed a “gunman who exploited the Red Line and tried to infiltrate,” without specifying the location. The Red Line marks areas in the Gaza Strip that remain under Israeli control according to the truce understandings.
According to the same ministry, the Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip since the start of the current cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas on October 10 has reached 466.
The Israeli military announced that three of its soldiers were killed by attacks carried out by Palestinian armed groups during the same period.
It is noted that the three journalists killed on Wednesday were members of a photography team, one of whom assisted Agence France-Presse (AFP). They were conducting filming operations on the ground for the Egyptian Relief Committee in the Gaza Strip to document refugee camps.
A spokesperson for the humanitarian organization denied that the vehicle hit bore the organization’s logo, stating that “the vehicle was targeted during a humanitarian operation, leading to the martyrdom of three people.”
Hamas described the attack on the journalists as a “dangerous escalation in violating the clear terms of the truce.”
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, in a statement published by the Palestinian news agency (Wafa), considered the incident a war crime, asserting it as evidence of what it called an “organized Israeli policy aimed at silencing the Palestinian voice, preventing the publication of facts, and obscuring its crimes against civilians in the Gaza Strip.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) cited the death of 206 journalists and media workers by Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war, which is considered the deadliest conflict for media work in history.
According to the organization’s data, two journalists were killed by Israeli strikes during the truce period, while a seventh was killed at the hands of a gunman from Palestinian resistance factions, as it noted.
Almost all global media outlets rely on local journalists for their coverage of Gaza affairs, as Israel prevents foreign media, including BBC News, from sending their staff into Palestinian areas independently. Occasionally, some journalists are allowed to enter the Gaza Strip accompanied by Israeli military forces.
The current conflict was ignited for Tel Aviv by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israeli towns on October 7, 2023, which resulted in about 1,200 deaths and approximately 251 people taken hostage. Tel Aviv responded to these events by launching a military campaign in the Gaza Strip, during which more than 71,000 people have died, according to Ministry of Health data in the Strip.
United News Network – UNN Arabic
An independent media platform providing reliable news and objective analysis, seeking to promote peace and cultural dialogue around the world to convey the truth and build bridges of understanding between peoples.
For more news, you can visit our homepage:
